We need representatives who can think more than one step ahead

Earlier this year, our newly-appointed GOP Rep. Brian Hill introduced an exact replica of Ohio's exotic animal law, SB 310, into the House. The version introduced in the Senate by Troy Balderson was the one eventually signed into law.

The Hill/Balderson bill, signed into law June 5, grandfathers the keeping of certain exotic animals, but prohibits their sale, trade or transfer. Owners must register, pass a background check, have the animals microchipped, maintain liability insurance, and meet various care standards.

So what will the state do about animals whose owners do not meet these requirements? And how many animals are likely to fall into the state's hands as a result?

No one seems to have planned for such an eventuality before the bill became law. Rather, Brian Hill appears to have worked with insuf?cient input or investigation, and only the vaguest idea how many exotic animals are actually kept in Ohio.

Thus, it came as a surprise to many, including House Speaker Batschelder, that Ohio would now have to rapidly construct a $3.5 million super-max animal care facility, paid for out of the rainy day fund. Even now, no one seems to have a handle on the facility's operating costs.

We need jobs in Muskingum and Guernsey counties. The possibility of locating a secure facility in a rural area in Hill's own district should have been investigated. Instead, a last-minute decision was made behind closed doors to build it in suburban Reynoldsburg, with little input from local residents, many of whom have objected.

An exotic animal law was long overdue. But how this one unfolded does not speak well for the management skills of Rep. Brian Hill.

Steve Kullman

Zanesville

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We need representatives who can think more than one step ahead

Earlier this year, our newly-appointed GOP Rep. Brian Hill introduced an exact replica of Ohio's exotic animal law, SB 310, into the House. The version introduced in the Senate by Troy Balderson was